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MOVIES / ON DVD / SILENT WATERS
Silent Waters

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Silent Waters (2004)

70%
83%
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70 %
Reviews Counted: 20 Fresh: 14  Rotten:6 Average Rating: 6.8/10
 
Consensus: Set in the late 1970s, Silent Waters is a well-meaning but plodding look at the rise of extremism in Pakistan.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Theatrical Release: Oct 8, 2004 Limited

Synopsis: This gorgeously shot feature chronicles the lives of a mother and her teenage son in a rural Pakistani village in 1979. Saleem (Aamir Malik) is an aimless youth in love with local beauty Zubeida (Shilpa Shukla), and adored by his widowed mother, Ayesha (Kiron Kher). Life seems to flow in... This gorgeously shot feature chronicles the lives of a mother and her teenage son in a rural Pakistani village in 1979. Saleem (Aamir Malik) is an aimless youth in love with local beauty Zubeida (Shilpa Shukla), and adored by his widowed mother, Ayesha (Kiron Kher). Life seems to flow in measured, bucolic beauty, but old and new trauma looms because of a pair of fundamentalist Muslim insurgents staying in the village. Their zealotry ignites a macho spark in Saleem and soon he is rejecting his mom for her Sufi philosophy, and Zubeida for seeing him outside of wedlock. Things get even worse with the arrival of some Sikh pilgrims, one of whom wants to find his lost sister. Anchored by Kiron Kher's moving performance, SILENT WATERS gradually evolves from a dreamy portrait of rural life (replete with Bollywood-esque wedding merriment) to a brutal history lesson. Viewers who are unfamiliar with the political time and place of this film are likely to be horrified to learn of the unconscionable cruelties visited on Muslim and Sikh women during the 1947 partitioning of Pakistan and after. Activist director Sabiha Sumar lets the story speak for itself, making this film both a moving, sociologically fascinating drama and a harrowing indictment of gender-based oppression. [More]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Kiron Kher, Aamir Malik, Shilpa Shukla, Arshud Mahmud, Salman Shahid

Director: Sabiha Sumar
Screenwriter: Sabiha Sumar
Producer: Sachithanandam Sathananthan, Philippe Avril, Helge Albers, Claudia Tronnier

DVD Info

Release:

Sep 20, 2005

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region (unknown)
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailer
  • Director's Statement
  • Director's Biography
  • Film Notes

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Full Review | comment Comment
05/20/08
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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N/A

Puts you in the middle of the action and allows you to understand, if not empathize with, all the main characters.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/01/07
Eric Monder
Film Journal International
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Time Out
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2/4

Leaden and dull.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/03/05
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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2.5/4

An interesting, if incomplete, picture of a community torn apart by religious zealotry.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/03/05
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
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N/A

Swirls amid memory and dreams while reflecting how much is masked by two-faced rhetoric, and how overlooked the victims of patriarchal nationalism and Islamism are.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/07/05
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
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3/4

By the time you understand the meaning of its title, Sabiha Sumar's film has delivered an emotional punch.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/11/05
Marta Barber
Miami Herald
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3/5

Even behind the veil, the movie tells us, there is dissent -- cinematic dissent.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/11/05
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
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3/5

As a moviegoing experience, it's a sadly slim proposition.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/10/05
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly
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2/4

...sporadically intriguing film that's ultimately sunk by director Sabiha Sumar's occasionally simplistic and melodramatic treatment of the material.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/21/04
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
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2/5

Silent Waters means well, but falls way short of its mark of enlightening the world to the plight of South Asian women in this period of history. It just isn't believable enough.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/12/04
Susan Walker
Toronto Star
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4/5

An indictment of intolerance, Silent Waters is a truly powerful picture, and of the sort that sneaks up on you and stays with you long after you've left the theatre.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/12/04
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
10/24/04
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders
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3/4

The filmmakers provide a well-meaning, well-timed Pakistani portrait.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/08/04
John Anderson
Newsday
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3.5/5

Gripping and ultimately tragic.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/08/04
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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3/4

Although taking place 25 years in the past, director-writer Sabiha Sumar's debut feature has relevance in the world as we now know it.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/08/04
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
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2.5/5

A more nuanced approach would have better articulated their allure to impressionable youth.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/08/04
Annlee Ellingson
Boxoffice Magazine
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3/4

Stirring on religious and humanitarian levels, and very timely notwithstanding its 1979 setting.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/07/04
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor
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N/A

Sabiha Sumar's debut feature could scarcely be more relevant to Pakistan's present, or, given this country's history of backing such repressive regimes, to ours.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/06/04
Joshua Land
Village Voice
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Ratings Image
7/10

...it presents an engaging and informative depiction of Pakistan's tumultuous history from an intimate perspective.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/11/04
Josh Ralske
All Movie Guide
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
SILENT WATERS breaks the silence in the USA on October 8, 2004 ...
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/16


REEL_REVIEWER
SILENT WATERS breaks the silence in the USA on October 8, 2004 ...
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/16


REEL_REVIEWER
SILENT WATERS breaks the silence in the USA on October 8, 2004 ...
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/16


REEL_REVIEWER
SILENT WATERS breaks the silence in the USA on October 8, 2004 ...
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/16

Around the Network

• Silent Waters at Rotten Tomatoes
• Silent Waters at AskMen
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